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Hey guys! This time I’ll be writing what I think could happen to our favourite nut case: Cersei Lannister.

When we leave Cersei in season 5, she is being held in the arms of Ser UnGregor, and all of the intensity she felt during her walk of shame as humiliation, is all of a sudden replaced as intensely by a feeling of rage, and a lust for revenge.

Given Cersei is very well known for being impulsive and for not thinking ahead (at least not well), she does seem to learn a lesson in the books. The lesson is obviously not the lesson we hoped she would have learned, which would have been humility, but a higher level of subterfuge instead.

Just as what we see in the books, I predict Cersei will play the play the part of the repentful and reborn mother. She’ll do this no doubt to try to somehow steer the Faith, Kevan and her son into cutting her some slack, but also to compete against Margaery in an ultimate holier than thou showdown.

The news of Myrcella’s death will soon send Cersei further into her insanity and rage, but she will try to use her daughter’s death as bait for pity points. I think she’ll be on the brink of losing it, but somehow, she will manage to still hold onto what is left of her sanity. She still has Tommen after all.

During this crisis, I believe she will also repel Jaime for the last time.

At the moment, her rage is primarily focused on the people of King’s Landing, the Faith and the Martells, but soon this focus will take a sudden shift.

This shift will take place when Kevan and Maester Pycelle are murdered by Varys (he’s with Tyrion right now, I know, but I’m thinking he might either travel back, or hire someone to kill them for him). These two deaths will make her all the more paranoid, and she will begin wondering if Tyrion has been hiding in King’s Landing this whole time.

Eventually she will end up burning the Tower of the Hand with wildfire because she suspects that is where the Imp is hiding, just like she had earlier, but in the books. She will do this easily, as the Alchemists are still loyal to her.

I think all ties to her involvement will be easily concealed, and she might even say that the burning of the Tower was the work of her enemies: the Martells (Trystane, beware).

Next, comes the trial. I actually think what I have just written is enough material for season 6, especially when some main characters had such an uneventful season 5, but I’ll just continue because I still have more in my head:

The trial will take place more or less in the same fashion as Tyrion’s second trial, and will obviously have a repeating champion: Ser Ungregor Clegane. This is where I will insert my bold prediction.

Bold Prediction: Once I knew Ungregor would champion Cersei’s cause, I remembered the stable boy in Tyrion’s second trial. In case you forgot, Ser Gregor cut off the arm of a boy who was a spectator, and he did it by accident, and ended up decapitating him with a second blow. I think that Ser Gregor has lost what little he had left of normalcy, and will end up doing exactly the same thing, but this time to Tommen. Tommen won’t be so high and mighty, hidden up on his royal seat, but will be closer to the people to please the Faith, so he will be an easier target this way.

And this is the final straw for Cersei.

Does she win the trial? In case we have Cleganebowl, I sure as hell hope she doesn’t. But otherwise, and for the sake of an interesting story, I hope she does win. I want to see a little Targaryen insanity in action.

Who will stop her? Tyrion? He’s far, and busy. Jaime? He too will probably be far, and busy. Could Sandor’s victory represent her death in the prophecy, and thus be the realization of the Valonqar part? Maybe.

I always thought Jaime killing her to stop her from burning down King’s Landing, just as he stopped the Mad King to be something poetic, so I think it would also fit nicely, but for this to happen, Jaime would need to take some riding lessons from Melissandre *insert sarcasm*.

Here’s my second prediction post for Game of Thrones characters. This time we are talking about Jaime.

Jaime is in trouble. He knows he’s in trouble. This is the second of his children that he cannot save. The already fragile ego of the once best knight in the realm receives yet another blow.

However, Jaime is not aware of another trouble heading his way. I might be too realistic here, especially in a show that is known to have moments where things don’t make much sense, but in my eyes, it takes two to ‘incest’.

That’s right, since Cersei was accused of incest, I believe the Faith are just waiting to put their hands on Jaime.

Once Kevan is informed that Jaime’s ship is about to dock, he sends a boat with a warning. Jaime is to flee and not set foot in King’s Landing.
Jaime must then decide to either avoid setting foot in King’s Landing and an almost certain arrest, or do the honorable thing, which would be to escort Myrcella’s body to her mother, and face the music, again.

He decides to board the boat Kevan sent, and swaps clothes with the messenger that came on it.

He then infiltrates the Red Keep easily, concealing his identity in the streets and amongst the people, and then revealing it once he reaches the gates of the Red Keep.

By the time he reaches Cersei, she has either heard the news of Myrcella’s death, or he tells her himself. Either way, and as expected, the already enraged and slightly insane Cersei explodes in Jaime’s face. She deems him useless, and blames him for the deaths of Joffrey, Tywin and Myrcella. To add insult to injury, she then tells her of her ordeal, and of all the things she was accused of, and that she admitted to one: fornicating with Lancel, because it was the truth. She’ll tell him she loved it, and that if she had no love for their only surviving son, she would have confessed to incest too, only to have Jaime suffer for all his failures.

Jaime is heartbroken. His fears confirmed. Cersei does not love him, perhaps she never did. He leaves King’s Landing with Bronn, or alone.

One farfetched chance: he bids farewell to Tommen, and tells him he is sorry for his failures, that he will not return, for he is not worthy of the Lannister name. Tommen out of pity and concern gives Jaime Widow’s Wail (or even more farfetched and Cersei’s trial has already taken place and Tommen’s skull was crushed by Ser Robert strong, kind of like what happened to that boy during Tyrion’s trial. The sword then goes to Jaime, logically). Basically I want the two swords together once he meets Brienne again.

What can he do now? Where can he go? Who can he go to? He has no home, nobody who loves him, nobody but Brienne. That’s the only thing that comes to his mind, just like in his dreams. Nobody else fought for him but Brienne.

But where is she? Looking for Sansa no doubt. So where is Sansa? Married to Ramsay Bolton.

Jaime heads to Winterfell.

On his way, he passes by the Quiet Isle, and we could get the Gravedigger scene. There he gets much needed spiritual guidance, and a chance to let his demons out.

Get yer tinfoil hats on!: Sandor, the gravedigger hears Jaime speak about Sansa, and reveals his presence to Jaime, insisting that he must go with him to save her.

Or not. I’m kind of ok with Sandor being left alone in peace, but I miss him terribly, and I find it hard to imagine him never wanting to help his little bird. I think that once his head is set straight, he’ll want to save her, simply because it is the right thing to do.

Sandor, Bronn and Jaime, boy I’d love to be a moth flying over their campsite. Poor Jaime lol.

Anyway, Jaime heads out to save Sansa, with or without Bronn and Sandor. Hopefully Bronn eventually gets killed by tome band of bandits?

On his way to Winterfell he starts hearing rumours about Sansa’s escape. Could Brienne have had anything to do with this? He also hears about Stannis’ defeat.

Not knowing where to find Brienne now, he keeps heading north, and once he reaches the Green Fork, Howland Reed’s men, following the order of the late King in the North (basically not let Lannisters cross the Neck) intercept Jaime.

Jaime is taken to Sansa/ Lady Stoneheart. Brienne, saddly, is nowhere to be seen. She’s been sent to retrieve Rickon. Sansa/ Lady Stoneheart harbors no love for Jaime, and he is sentenced to death/ trial by combat.

Like this:

(assuming Stannis is indeed dead and not just surprised that Brienne spared him).

Sansa escapes Winterfell with Theon. Sansa manages to land without much damage to her body, but Theon breaks a leg or two.
Sansa refuses to let Theon die alone, and tries to drag him in the snow.
Theon screams in pain.

Podrick, under the command of Brienne, has kept an eye on Winterfell while she went to deal with Stannis. He sees Sansa and Theon. He races to warn Brienne.

Brienne and Podrick ride to Sansa and Theon

Now put on your tinfoil hats

The Bolton soldiers spot Brienne and Podrick as they ride towards the Walls of Winterfell, and quickly assemble a group of men to confront them.

Out of nowhere, a flurry of arrows crosses the skies, above Brienne’s and Pod’s heads and straight into the bodies of the Bolton men.

Brienne and Podrick look back in utter surprise, only to see a small group of small, scrawny men armed with bows and arrows.
It is Howland Reed and his merry men. The greenseer saw this happen, and arrived in the nick of time to save his friend’s daughter.

Sansa, Theon, Brienne and Pod run away towards the woods, and vanish with the Crannogmen.
After a difficult and rather long ride, they arrive at Greywater Watch.
They speak of what each one of them knows, about Jon, Rickon, Bran, the Boltons, Robb’s will in which he legitimizes Jon (Howland has her brother’s will on him).

Put an extra tinfoil hat on:

This could also be a place where Howland gives Sansa another surprise by presenting her to Lady Stoneheart (but this is me really wanting Lady Stoneheart, and I’m sure Sansa could take on her vindictive role in Greywater Watch, along with the Crannogmen, instead of the BwB).

Sansa sends a raven to the Wall, where Jon has been revived (separate story in a way, but he’s revived, no longer a brother of the Night’s Watch, for his watch is over, and is under the protection of the Wildlings and Wun WUn). The message states that Sansa is alive at Greywater Watch, and requests that a trustworthy man be sent to her, for she has news. Sending news about her brother via raven is too risky.

Melissandre tells Jon that the most trustworthy man in all of Westeros is right there with them: Ser Davos.

Davos heads towards the Green Fork, unsure of how to get to the shifting city, but upon arriving at the Fork, he is quickly located by the Crannogmen, and to Sansa.

Sansa tells Davos that Rickon is known to have headed to the island of Skagos, and entrusts him to find him. Brienne goes with him. A once broken woman, and a once broken man, reinvigorated with a new sense of purpose.

Is this enough material for one season? Given the EXTREMELY BORING season Brienne just had, I’d say yes. At least I hope so, because I’m out of ideas for these guys, at least for now.

Edit: Regarding the will that legitimizes Jon, Davos is the designated messenger. He could tell Jon about it on his way to Skagos, since it is nearby, or on his way back from Skagos (safest thing would be to tell Jon before heading to an island that is supposedly full of got riding cannibals).

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With season five out of the way, I have decided to start a series of posts where I dare to guess what will happen to each surviving character in the show. My guesses will be based on what I know from the books, so please don’t get mad if you see me saying “oh x happened in the books, so this might happen in the series” or “x happened in the series, so this might happen in the books”. Any leaks or new chapter reveals by George will also be fuel for my fire.

I’m just doing this for a bit of fun and to keep my brain busy with this story as I wait for new material.

Needless to say, the whole series of posts will contain spoilers to anyone who is not caught up with the books and the t.v show.

I started off by making a list of the living characters, and I just realized that the first name on my list is the name of a character that is both dead in the books and the show: Jon Snow. I put his name first without even thinking about it, that is how convinced I am about him coming back to life.

Shortly after the season finale, Kit gave Entertainment Weekly an interview whew he categorically states that Jon snow is dead, and that he will not be back next season. Nothing evasive there (unlike what Michelle Fairley did on her ‘death interview’). So I say it’s just a big old lie. Of course he’s coming back.

Why do I say this? Well, besides the obvious (the fact that George has spent sooo much time building this guy’s story up, with all the stories behind his origins, all the prophecies, all the dreams, the visions the people around him. Yadda yadda), I freaked out when I saw Melissandre left the Wall to join Stannis in the siege of Winterfell. Why? Because she’s meant to resurrect him.

The simple fact that they bothered to bring her back to the Wall on the last episode (I bet she rode like the wind!) is all I needed to keep Jon’s continued existence on track. Simple as that. Add to that the fact that the show runners decided to have Melissandre meet Thoros and learn of his powers of resurrection (to her great surprise), is a bonus.

Anyway, this is just me justifying why I am including Jon Snow in my list.

Fun fact: I actually forgot the King in my list, added him last lol. Poor Tommen. Even Howland Reed made it before him.

I won’t be doing this character by character, as many characters are now meeting up, or possibly will be, so it will be a group of possible scenarios.
Any suggestion, critique or correction to my future series of posts will be very welcome, as long as it stays clean.

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I couldn’t keep my fingers from typing after what I saw in this season (5) of Game of Thrones.

I don’t even know where to begin. I’ll be venting here, so yes, this will be a list of things I did not like. Sure there are things I did like, but right now I’m just too annoyed and need to vent.

Perhaps I can start in what I and many others think was the worst part of the season: Dorne.

Dorne

Most of what happened in Dorne, as book readers know, never happened in the books.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I believe Jaime was sent to Dorne to bid time for his reunion with Brienne (who had, I thought, plenty to do other than stare at a window).The surprise here is that Jaime basically had as much screentime as Myranda. Dorne was about Bronn, and tits.

But this is something I’ll discuss with more detail later on.

No Arianne Martell? Why not? Isn’t this Dorne? Isn’t this the ONLY place where women are allowed to rule since the times of Nymeria? Why the hell are you going to give her plot to a pubescent kid and a vindictive widow?

Which brings me to another point: Ellaria Sand. It is amazing how a character that seemed to show so much promise can be reduced to a pile of crap due to poor writing. They made Ellaria ignore all of Oberyn´s wishes, and his way of thinking.She killed a little girl, an innocent little girl, who loved and was loved by the Heir to Dorne, damn… such poor writing. I guess she doesn’t care about what Jaime will do to Trystane.

The only good part, to me, was the heartbreak Jaime must have felt after losing his daughter, especially when he had finally found someone that still loved him (not that I wished that on him, I just think it was George Martinesque).

Back to Jaime, or better, the no-Jaime. Bronn’s scenes were useless, and they contributed nothing to the progression of the story. The infamous ‘tit scene’looked like it was filmed by a horny 13 year old boy. Fine, great tits, but did I really have to get flashed 15 times with them?

They could have used this time explaining things better to viewers or including ommited characters, or showing more of other characters (like Jaime).

I don’t even want to talk about the Sand Snakes, but I will. I feel sorry for the actresses. What was once to me a beautiful variety of women, both physically and mentally, became something very poor, oversimplified and basic. The fight scenes? Ugh. The costumes? Copy paste. The personality? Flavourless. The acting? Poor. The script? Hair pulling bad.

Doran Martell and Areo Hotah: Underused. You had one good thing, and you didn’t use it. Both actors could have done so much more had they been given the right material to work with.

Winterfell

Let me just say that when I found out that the Brienne-meets Sansa scene was meant to convey Sansa telling Brienne to get the f out of dodge, I sighed a sigh of frustration and remembered the Jaime/ Cersei rape scene. Another poorly filmed scene. What makes it worse is that it just perpetualized the idea viewers get that Sansa is just a stupid little girl.

Next: Brienne spends three weeks staring at a window. Awesome stuff, you really used one of my favourite characters well. Well done!

Next: Sansa gets raped. Expected since she took Jeyne’s place, but even though it hurt to watch, as they intended, I had hopes that it would heat her up to the point that she’s actually do something other than picking a lock and getting angry at Theon. Stab somebody ffs!

Myranda was probably the best part for me, both her nastiness, and her death (but it really should have been Sansa doing it). I guess Theon had to do it as the symbolic moment where he shows he still has some balls on him.

Stannis: his death was weak to say the least. Although the actor did a good job with his face as he sat there by the tree (you could see his inner turmoil as he thought about his last words), “go on, do your duty” felt like, I don’t know, he owed us more than that after what he did.

Oh!! and I almost forgot: the most seasoned and best tactician in the whole story marches upon Winterfell, against the people of the North, with no horses, no siege weapons, out in the open, with half his men (and even those were weak, and had 0 motivation).
“Uhhh My Lord, half of your troops left ya.” , “Uhhhh my Lord, looks like there will be no siege afterall…”, what the hell? Way to go D&D, I understand that Stannis is indeed going to pull a lot of the crap he pulled this season, but you didn’t have to make him all of a sudden lose all of his skills.

By the way, Melissandre needs to get a new pair of glasses, she ain’t reading the flames so well.

The Wall

Nothing much to say about the wall other than Jon’s death. Still no warging hints? Really? Why the hell couldn’t they just add a 10 second wolf dream in one of the earlier episodes and then have Jon utter “Ghost” before he died?.

This is a vent post but I loved the Hardhome scene sooo much I just have to mention it here. Loved – it.

Essos

Hi, could you please let me into Jorah’s head so that I can figure out why the hell is he contaminating the whole frigging continent? Because I can’t tell with his lack of facial expressions. I can’t understand why he’d do it, does anyone reading this have any idea?

Also, and off-rant topic: is anybody else considering the chance of Varys being the Harpy?

There, I think that’s mostly it. I have a feeling I am forgetting something, but I’ll add it later on if I rememeber anything else.

I know I’ve been absent for months, hope everyone has been well 🙂 I’ll probably write a life update soon, if I behave 😉

According to Winteriscoming.net ( check out the post), and also as seen in one of the Sand Snakes auditions, it seems Jaime might be heading to Dorne in season 5.

If you are a reader of the books, you know this is a huge change in Jaime’s storyline. This, to me, is terribly annoying. Annoying to the point I might just postpone watching the series, and wait for Winds of Winter to come out. As I said in WiC’s post, to me, this is Martin’s story, and I would rather have the story from him first, and D&D’s version later (that is, if things are about to be changed in a drastic way).

There is a possibility though that the Dorne trip Jaime is apparently taking, is nothing but filler until he goes back to his proper place, Riverrun.

Jaime’s storyline, from King’s Landing to Riverrun, is full of unnecessary bits (series wise):

He stops at Harrenhal and releases Wylis Manderly, he also confronts a Connington for insulting Brienne.
He then goes off to Darry, to visit his now married and pious cousin, Lancel, and learns that Cersei had sex with him too, on several occasions.
He then goes to Riverrun, to try to sort out the whole Tully issue, which he partially does (Brynden escapes, because he’s that awesome), by threatening to catapult Edmure’s unborn child as soon as it is born (nice Jaime, real nice… doubt he’d do it lol).He then goes to Raventree to sort out some feuds between Brackens ans Blackwoods, and is successful.
He goes back to Riverrun, camping at Pennytree. This is where he sees Brienne again.

The bits in bold are totally useless, at least so far, serie-wise, they seem totally dismissible. So we’d get him with Lancel, him with Tullys, and him with Brienne. Is this enough for one and most likely two seasons? I seriously doubt it. This is why I hope to bits that D&D have sent him off to Dorne: to bide time.

By biding time, I don’t just mean to keep us entertained with him for two seasons, but also because in contrast to Jaime’s storyline, Brienne’s path is full of goodies and interesting adventures:

At Maidenpool, we get to know more about Brienne’s past, she has to suffer the company of idiots like Hyle Hunt and Nimble Dick, and the very very shitty Randyll Tarly.
At Cracklaw Point, we get her versus the Brave Companions, and Pod gets his second savior moment.
At the Quiet Isle, we get the delicious scene where she looks for the Hound, and speaks to the Elder Brother.
At the crossroads, she has her darkest moments, having to fight Rorge and Biter, only to be saved by Gendry, and be taken to the Brotherhood without Banners, to see Stoneheart, who nearly kills her and Pod.
She is the spared upon screaming out a single word: “sword!” (later confirmed by Martin), and is seen by Jaime at Pennytree, and tells him she has found Sansa, but needs his help, as the Hound has her.

This is all awesome shit, none of it should be cut out.

So, what can good old Jaime do in Dorne while Brienne is being her awesome self and being the knight he always wished he was? He is Arys Oakheart. He’ll bring Doran his brother’s corpse, he might even bring him Gregor’s head. He’ll meet the Sand Snakes, and might get to know one intimately well, who knows (but I doubt it). He’ll see his daughter again, and maybe get some paternal feelings upon seeing her being attacked. Plenty to do.

Hopefully, for me, this is what will happen. I wish I knew beforehand, so I would know if I have to postpone watching the series or not. Oh, as if having to wait and see if Jaime and Brienne will be ok wasn’t enough!!!

So all we know is that Brienne was almost killed by SH, along with Podrick. Brienne somehow managed to get away from this ‘perdicament’ by uttering a single word. This word has been confirmed by Martin himself to be “sword”.

Brienne then set off to fetch Jaime. She lured him with a lie about the Hound and that was the last we heard of them.

All things point to Brienne taking Jaime to Stoneheart, in order to save Podrick. Since the word “sword” saved her, we can presume she will give Jaime a trial by sword. Brienne would undoubtedly beat the one-handed Jaime in combat, she beat him with his hands tied, so I’d presume this would be a similar feat.

The issues I have with this are the following:

Brienne does not have it in her to kill Jaime. Jaime saved her life, Jaime has told her why he became the kingslayer, Jaime has given her Oathkeeper, Jaime has given her a purpose in life, a knightly mission, Jaime is a changed man, or a changing man.

Catelyn’s oath to Brienne should save her from having to save Podrick by killing Jaime. This oath must be extremely important for all the evidence I have posted above, why else keep it precisely the same? Michelle’s comment also points to this.

Jaime’s character is too rich and too complex to be killed now. Killing him would be the most wasteful death in all the books, to me at least.

Thoros of Myr is not too fond of the changes he has seen since Stoneheart started leading the BwB, he would most likely intervene at this point.

If R’hllor exists, or magic, or whatever, it saved the Hound because he felt the Hound had some important role to fulfill (bodyguard to Arya? I think he’ll be back though), and it might save Jaime for the very same reasons.

Jaime gave Brienne Oathkeeper. Ice, Ned’s ancestral sword, will be there, but it’s a changed sword, a strange sword. I have a feeling this also has its importance here.

This is pointing to Jaime being something you’d never expect in the story, I won’t even try to explain why, several people have done this, and done it so well I will just link what I feel is one of the best explanations:

Of course it is only natural that my brain would try to invent ways to save Brienne. I bet Martin would laugh a maniacal laughter at my pathetic attempts to save her, but still:

The Hound has followed Brienne since the Quiet Isle. Why? He heard Brienne talking about Sansa. He will intervene. This is, by far, the most pathetic of all attempts I have invented, but it joins my three favourite characters in the same place, so deal with it.

Jaime kills Brienne in combat and breaks down in tears. Thoros sees the impact her death has had on such a ‘supposedly’ horrible man, and feels her death was very very wrong. He revives her.

Jaime kills Brienne in combat (Nissa Nissa), we get Lightbringer as a result. Jaime breaks down in tears. Thoros intervenes, not only because “OMFG IT’S AZOR AHAI!!!!” or “OMFG IT’S LIGHTBRINGER!!!” and brings back Brienne, because he can, and Stoneheart will lose her spark of life as a consequence. He’d actually not mind that last bit at all.

Jaime promises to kill Cersei instead (becoming the dreaded Valonqar in the process), and Brienne and Pod are hostages until there is confirmation of her death.

Jaime promises to kill Cersei (Nissa Nissa) instead (becoming the dreaded Valonqar and Azor Ahai in the process), and Brienne and Pod are hostages until there is confirmation of her death.

or

Brienne does kill Jaime, she breaks down in tears, Thoros is preplexed as to how such a virtuous woman would ache so intensely with the death of such a bad man, and he revives Jaime, giving further strength to the Azor Ahai reborn theory. Stoneheart dying for a new Jaime would be the ultimate sacrifice, a hard to imagine sacrifice, but still doable.

Am I being too optimistic in finding ways to save both Jaime and Brienne? What do you think will be the outcome?

The other day I was having this e-mail discussion with an Italian online friend. We were talking about ‘grey’ characters, and how G.R.R Martin is so very good at creating them. In my list of ‘grey’ characters, I included the name of Cersei Lannister to which he said ” Cersei isn’t a sort of a very selfish evil character?”, which lead me to defend Cersei as just that, a grey character. This is the second time I have done this, so I have decided to share my thoughts here.

A fellow blogger has also led me to post this, he has loads of interesting “in defenses of” in his blog. Here is his link :

This post in no way intends to make Cersei anything else than what she really is: a paranoid, cold, manipulative woman. The post does however intend to lessen the darkness surrounding this character by explaining why she is the way she is, by explaining that she was not simply born this way, but instead molded to become this way.

I’ll list the events in her life I feel have molded her into the character she is today in a more or less chronological order, and I will also mention the emotional result of these events.

Cersei’s mother dies – fear, sadness, abandonment
Cersei being a child, blames Tyrion for her mother’s death – hatred
Cersei is treated differently from her brother – sadness, hatred, injustice
Cersei falls in love with her brother Jaime – fear, shame
Cersei is found redhanded with her brother – fear, shame
Cersei is seperated from her brother – fear, shame, injustice (the Targaryens did it all the time!)
Cersei has her prophecy read to her – fear, hatred, suspicion, mortality
Cersei loses a friend, just as prophecy said – fear, vulnerability, suspicion, mortality
Promise to wed Rhaegar is broken, she is said to not be good enough – humiliation, hatred, loss of power
Father is distant, cold – abandonment, hatred
Father sees her as a prized horse, who’s duty is to breed with whoever is most powerful or useful to her father – fear, hatred, powerlessness
Robert Baratheon calls her “Lyanna” on their wedding night – humiliation, hatred
Robert Baratheon is a whoremonger – humiliation, hatred, powerlessness
Robert Baratheon fathers several bastards – humiliation, hatred, powerlessness
Bran Stark catches her and Jaime in the tower at Winterfell – fear, shame, regret (I imagine the regret part)
Ned Starks threatens to reveal her incestuous relationship with her brother – fear, hatred, powerlessness, mortality
Cersei is surrounded by masters of whispers – fear, paranoia, powerlessness
Joffrey undermines her authority – fear, powerlessness
Tyrion undermines her authority – fear, hatred, powerlessness
Tyrion separates her from her daughter – fear, hatred, powerlessness
Father undermines her authority, does it in public – humiliation, fear, hatred
Joffrey is to wed a younger and more loved queen – fear, powerlessness
Jaime loses his hand – powerlessness, mortality

Overall, not a very pleasant way to live and certainly not a very good recipe for a well rounded, balanced individual. Is she a bitch? Yes. Is it any wonder? For me, no. Could she be better? Yes, but then I could also be a better cook, or more patient, or calm, or this or that. Her brain is wired as it is from birth, she was given those tools at birth, and then this list of events ensued. She responded to these events the only way she could. Note that nobody was there to guide her, nobody supported her, held her hand, or tried to point her in the right direction. She spent her life in a gilded cage, nothing to envy, and certainly nothing that would make her a better human.

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Okiday, I have decided to list some of the most awesomely awesome awesomeness I cannot wait to see in season 4. Of course this list contains spoilers, so do not read on if you have not seen the series or read the books to this point.

Ok, here goes:

This:

Need I say more? Well actually I do. I really want to see this, and then I really don’t want to see this. Probably one of the two parts so far in the whole story that makes me feel this way.

Next:

The second part that hurts me to see, but I have to see. My favourite character Sandor Clegane and Arya Stark. It will be sweet when they get along, it will crush me in the end… “Do you remember where the heart is?”… *sniffle*

Also:

This phenomenal monument to batshit crazyness. Can-not-wait. I love this character, or rather, I love hating her. However, her flight is something I cannot get myself to like, and I really do not want to see it. My heart sank to my feet. Littlefinger, I hate you so so much… Ohhhhh so much…

Most of all I need to see my dear dear Stoneheart, and I only pray that some sense is still in that zombiesque brain of hers *goes back to singing her please-don’t-hurt-Jaime-or-Brienne mantra*

Another must is, of course:

But not for long mafacka! Pardon the lack of eloquence, the feeling is that basic and intense.

I am also quite curious about Coldhands and Bran’s adventure beyond the Wall, even though I have a baaaad feeling about how it will end. Poor kid’s gonna end up being a tree I bet. *sigh*

And last but not least:

Tyrion says fairwell to his father, leaving him rightfully seated on his throne. I also love to hate Tywin, but I don’t mind seeing this part one bit.

Edit: I forgot this one:

Jaime opening his eyes and finally seeing this is not love, not from her anyways.

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I don’t know what the hell has happened to me since the beginning of December but this is just getting ridiculous!

I have no will to work what so ever. Like nada, nothing, ziltch! Granted there isn’t much to do at work at the moment, which is stupid (Xmas, I should be busy purchasing new things for the shop, registering them, pricing them etc etc, but since the lovely crisis is here, we’d rather sell what we have and have money for salaries and Xmas bonuses at the end of the month), but even the little there is to do is just ugh!

All I want to do is go home, make a wonderful cup of coffee, put on my pjs, my dads old oversized wool coat (mom made a his and hers waaahaaahaaay back when they were married, decades ago, and I still have it and I wuves it), and sit at the pc, playing this new game my boyfriend got me, well, it’s old, but it’s new for me, and I’m loving it (Witcher, based on books written by Andrzej Sapkowski, a story I might end up reading).

As the readers are aware by now, the Hound is dead. This does not mean that Sandor Clegane is dead. G.R.R Martin wrote Brienne’s visit to the quiet Isle in a very well planned manner, it is filled with hints that tell us that Sandor Clegane IS alive. I won’t be showing these passages for you, I’m sure most of you picked up on it.

But this post is not about Sandor being alive.

It is about his return.

Ok, so picture this: Trial by combat for Cersei. Who does she pick? Un-Gregor of course. Who does the Faith pick? You got it 😉

No, let us all start praying Sandor wins in case the theory is right, m-kay?

Ironically it is a recast of a recast I complained about this very day (see previous post): Ser Gregor Clegane III !

His name is Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, Icelands’s strongest man, he stands at 6’9″, is 24 years old and has no previous acting experience. It certainly does not sound promising, but at least this guy actually looks like a mountain, unlike Gregor Clegane II, and he doesn’t really have to act, he just has to fight his ass off and bash… stuff in (saved ya from a spoiler there). Plus, if he keeps his helm on, I miiiight just be able to imagine Gregor Clegane I in it!

So Michiel Huiman is to replace Ed Skrein as Daario Naharis. I was not a huuuuge fan of Skrein’s interpretation of the character, I thought he was a tad too mellow, not testosterone fuelled enough, but hey, I got used to it and hoped that in season three his temper and impulsiveness would be more evident. No clue as to why Skrein is being replaced yet, although the news has been confirmed since it IS in HBO’s website.

I really hate getting used to one image of a character (which was already totally different from the books), and then have it shuffled around altogether. I know crap like this sometimes has to happen, but it should be avoided as much as possible.

Which leads me to the WORST recast in the history of GoT: Conan Stevens replaced by Ian White. This recast, I must admit to my great shame, went right through me and I didn’t even realise it. Conan plays season one, Ian plays season two. I didn’t even realise Gregor Clegane appeared in season two because of this. Sure I was baffled in Harrenhal when they mentioned Clegane’s name, but my brain just thought “huh? He’s not even there” and then proceeded to pay attention to the rest of the dialogue.

I know Conan Stevens left GoT to go to The Hobbit but was it really necessary to replace the actor in season two? Was Gregor’s presence in Harrenhal aaaall that important in season two? Did he say much? Did he do much? No. They should have simply not put him in season two and them brought him back in season four.

Conan Stevens has already said that he was not called to rejoin in season four, which is just about the most disappointing change I foresee so far. I was really looking forward to see Conan again in a scene just as epic as the one where he almost cut Loras in half. He is the MOUNTAIN dammit! Not the TALL LANKY GUY WHO LOOKS YOUNGER THAN HIS YOUNGER BROTHER.

Not meaning to demean Dan Brown here, but this is a pretty desperate move on my behalf.

I have done my best to not read G.R.R latest Game of Thrones book (published in 2011… hint hint Mr. Martin) in hopes to coincide the end of my reading to the launch of the new book. I’ve tried games, the gym, keeping my home cleaner, drawing, painting, cooking, and now Dan Brown.

One story has nothing to do with the other, one author has nothing to do with the other, one genre has nothing to do with the other, yet I was hoping the typical adrenaline rush Brown gives me would help me stop thinking about Tyrion and Daenerys and Jon… and Arya and Sansa, and Jaime, and Brienne, and oh heck even good old Cersei.

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The inevitable has happened: Soon after the beginning of Game of Thrones’ third season, I couldn’t contain myself anymore and I picked up the books again, and I am now sitting next to the final book: A Dance with Dragons: After the Feast.

Damn you G.R.R Martin, damn you! Damn you for writing so well and yet so slow. I’d have to read one chapter a week to not have to wait ages for the next book, and even then it probably wouldn’t work.

Now that season 3 is over and I didn’t get the ending I so wanted *sigh*, I have to drown my sorrows in lovely cherries…

… and in my book.

I’m looking forward to see what happens to Tyrion, Cersei, Arya… aaaaand the rest I more or less know about from inadvertent reading in forums and yes, the ocassional curiosity attack, namely Jon Snow and Daenerys, not that it affected me much.

Let the reading commence!

Oh! Aaand just because I feel like it and I thought it was beautiful, here is a photo I took with my mobile of the sky, yesterday at the end of the day 🙂

Warning: this blog will contain spoilers for those who have not yet seen episode nine of season 3 of Game of Thrones (The Rains of Castamere), or have not read up to the end of the first half of the third book.

So a few days have gone by since I saw the episode. I was very curious about how it would be played out, how faithful to the book it would be, and how close to what I had imagined as I read the scene.

Going back a few months, when I was reading the Red Wedding scene, I could tell from the start that there was going to be trouble. Grey Wind’s reaction was the first clue, the fact that Cat respected and valued the direwolve’s reaction made it even more important. Then came the tense reactions from certain guests, the bad musicians, the Rains of Castamere… By the time it was all done, I shut my book, placed it on my lap, and sat there for a few minutes in utter silence as my boyfriend babbled away to his friends who were playing League of Legends.

After the long moment of silence, and not until the knot in my throat had dissolved, I really really wanted him to shut the fuck up, because I had something horrible to tell him (he only watches the series), but I knew I couldn’t. I then thought about telling my brother (he had only read up to book two), but I knew I couldn’t… I thought about telling my dad (series only)… couldn’t.

DAMMIT!

It’s like a tsunami was coming and I couldn’t warn them. Then I thought “It’s a book woman, calm the hell down”. But no, this is more than a book. How many times have you read something that affected you this much? I’ll tell you from my experience: once (oh great ladies of Avalon). So I have to say it: A Song of Ice and Fire is by far the most immersing, intense and entertaining story I have ever read, and I have to thank Mr. Martin for writing it.

Now, regarding the episode itself. Michelle Fairley was abso-fucking-lutely amazing! Her whole face was transformed from the beginning (it looked like she had been crying before the final cut, her eyes looked puffed, her face swollen, her voice scratched). Her acting was amazing, her voice was the vessel of dispair, everything so perfect. I hope she gets rewarded for this performance. Even though the very ending was different (she didn’t ‘flip out’ seeing bugs, Ned and scratching her own face), her last moment was just as good, it was just ”End me”.

To think before reading that part I was going on about how Cat needed a freaking break… I wasn’t hoping it would be with the help of a sharp blade sliding across her neck…

And Bolton… seriously guys, the part when she finds his chainmail? That split second he looked into her eyes? He looked like Tywin Lannister himself. I got chills just by looking at his face.

Overall a great job. They treated the most important part in the books (at least so far) with the utmost respect and care. I loved it. Thank you for not disappointing me.

Incoming spoilers regarding the season finale… Look away if you must.

I have read interviews of both Richard Madden and Fairley and whereas Richard talks about crying, showering, getting on a plane for his new acting job and then crying some more, Fairley is far more vague, she talks about the end but not like him, she mentions how emotionally drained she was after the scene, she goes on to talking about getting a haircut, like the haircut you get after you end a relationship… She kept it vague enough for me to be afraid Lady Stoneheart will not even appear in the series at all (it is a small part afterall, but I really hope they would include it, especially as a last scene for the season), yet vague enough for me to suspect it isn’t quite over for her…

This theory is by no means elaborated by myself (I have adopted it and defend it here), but I truly believe in it and think that it is absolutely perfect. I would like to share it with anyone who would like to read it.

As we all know, thusfar Jon Snow’s parentage remains a mystery, both in the series and in the books, so technically this is not a spoiler, but if you want to remain in the sweet bliss that is ignorance, please stop reading now. I mean it, I don’t want any bitching about “oh you ruined it for me”. Mkay?

I will explain the theory with key points/ historical facts in the story.

Rhaegar Targaryen falls completely in love with Lyanna Stark at the Tourney at Harrenhall

Rhaegar Targaryen crowns Lyanna Stark the Queen of Love and Beauty after winning the tourney, and not his wife, Elia Martell

Rhaegar Targaryen kidnaps Lyanna Stark

Robert Baratheon, betrothed to Lyanna and in love with her goes apeshit, starts a war.

Lyanna Stark is being held at the Tower of Joy, and was guarded by the remaining loyalist members of the Kingsguard (Arthur Dayne, Oswell Whent, Gerold Hightower).

Ned Stark arrives at the tower to save his sister, with some of his loyal friends (Cassel, Wull, Glover, Ryswell, Reed and Dustin).

They fight their way to the tower, only Ned and Howland Reed survive. During the fight, Lyanna screams up in the tower.

Once Ned reaches his sister, she is covered in blood and feverish.

Her last words to her brother were “Promise me, Ned.” Words that haunted Ned for the rest of his life.

Ok, those were the facts. Soooooo, the logic behind the theory is:

Why would Lyanna be covered in blood, and screaming atop a tower if she was being protected by the only remaining members of the Kingsguard, and Rhaegar loved her? Why such an elite guard guarding her? Because she was pregnant with Rhaegar’s son. She was giving birth at the tower, hence the blood and the screams.

The promise? Imagine this: “Ned, promise me you will take care of my baby. Promise me you’ll watch over him as if he were your own. Please don’t kill him because of what Rhaegar did, he is innocent, he is your blood, he is my blood.”

“Promise me, Ned.”

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the Song of Ice and Fire, it is Lyanna Stark (ice) and Rhaegar Targaryen (fire), it is Jon Snow.

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The Bear and the Maiden Fair was the episode I had been longing for, so much that I wasn’t even paying proper attention to the rest of the episode (but yes Theon, I did notice you, you did not suffer in vain). I am glad this was the episode G.R.R Martin chose to write, it contained one of the best moments in the books, the only alternative would be, in my opinion, The Rains of Castamere episode (did you notice the music at the end of this episode? Brace yourselves!).

Gwendoline did not disappoint, although I was expecting Jaime to give his “I dreamed of you” line. I guess they couldn’t bother with making him wake up from a dream, or thought it was too cheesy, but I think Jaime’s dream was important, or the feelings he felt in them were important (hard to put into play, I know I know, but he dreamt of her dammit!“. The only part I thought was a bit off was Brienne’s face once she was safe, she still looked so tough, I would have thought she’s look a bit more surprised at the outcome or, relieved. Still works for me though, looking tough is her shield.

I am now dreading the second last episode, it will be a tough one and I should have accepted it by now. All that is left for me to hope is that the season ends as I’d like it to end, with a spooky Lady Stoneheart staring into the camera lense… WAHAHA!!!

And who are you, the proud lord said,
that I must bow so low?
Only a cat of a different coat,
that’s all the truth I know.
In a coat of gold or a coat of red,
a lion still has claws,
And mine are long and sharp, my lord,
as long and sharp as yours.
And so he spoke, and so he spoke,
that lord of Castamere,
But now the rains weep o’er his hall,
with no one there to hear.
Yes now the rains weep o’er his hall,
and not a soul to hear.

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As the story of Game of Thrones frequently invades my mind, leading to many many minutes of doing nothing but thinking about its plots, characters, tactics, locations, this time it was Lord Varys’ turn. I couldn’t help but look back at all he has done, both in the t.v series and in the books and wonder if he is truly good. So far all I am sure is he is a better man than Littlefinger, but my scale is tipping to him actually being good.

As I wasted time thinking about this and not actually working (omg I can’t believe it is still tuesday), I drew this, with the help of my trusty Sketchbook pro app of course 🙂

A question for the readers of the Game of Thrones books. I’ll leave it as vague as possible to avoid spoilers. All non book readers that would like to avoid spoilers, please don’t read on, or look at the comments, if I get any that is ;).

The question: Will we see Stoneheart/ The Hangwoman / Mother Merciless at the end of season 3? I sure hope so!

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I just finished A Clash of Kings. I kept telling myself I would not read on ahead of the series but… I can’t help it! I can’t wait to see what happens to Bran, Sansa, Arya, Jon, the Hound, Tyrion, Jaime aaand I hope Joffrey dies soon 😛

Daenerys somehow lost a LOT of interest to me, not sure why. I liked her a lot more in the series. I also liked her a lot in the books, but as her journey began and developed, I don’t know, she just lacks seasoning. Her thirst for the throne kind of consumed what had once made her seem so endearing to me. Maybe book 3 will bring back the old Danny, or a more interesting Danny.